Tennessee explosives plant blast that killed 16 people was a chain
reaction felt 20 miles away
[October 25, 2025]
By JONATHAN MATTISE and KRISTIN M. HALL
McEWEN, Tenn. (AP) — A massive blast at a Tennessee explosives plant
that killed 16 people, leveled the building and was felt more than 20
miles away began in an area where workers used kettles to produce a
mixture of explosives and set off other explosives stored nearby,
authorities said Friday.
Investigators still haven't been able to identify the remains of two of
the people killed in the Oct. 10 explosion at the Accurate Energetic
Systems factory in Bucksnort, an unincorporated community about 60 miles
(97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville, officials said at a news
conference.
The delicate investigation at the site of the plant has concluded, but
determining a cause could take months more, said Brice McCracken, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ special agent in
charge at the National Center for Explosives Training and Research. In
addition to locating victims' remains, the on-site work involved
removing and disposing of explosives that didn't detonate in the blast.
The next phase centers on ATF labs and testing facilities, where
investigators will try to determine what triggered the explosion, said
Jamey VanVliet, ATF special agent in charge in the Nashville division.
“Those results don’t come quickly,” VanVliet said. "They come through
time, care, and precision. And that’s what this community deserves:
answers that are proven, not guessed."
From 24,000 to 28,000 pounds of explosives detonated that day,
authorities said. The blast originated on the 15,000-square-foot plant's
first floor, near kettles used in the production of an explosive mixture
for the commercial mining industry, McCracken said.
The building was primarily used to make explosives known as cast
boosters — typically a mixture of TNT and RDX, or cyclonite, that is
poured by hand into a cardboard tube, he said.
Explosives were mixed in kettles on the mezzanine level before being
pumped into heating kettles on the main floor, McCracken said.
“Everything is mixed up top and then it pumps down into the lower floor,
where it stays heated," McCracken said. "And then they’re able to pull
it out in a pitcher and then each cast is hand-poured into the cardboard
tube.”
The main floor also stored explosives near a loading dock, and cast
boosters were cooled on that floor before being packaged, he said.
After the initial explosion happened in those production kettles,
investigators believe other explosive materials stored on the main floor
also detonated, McCracken said.
During the investigation, authorities searched an area of about 500
acres (200 hectares), much of it dense with woods, looking for evidence.
The scene was turned back over to the company Thursday, McCracken said.
What happened at the plant
The blast, which was felt more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, left
a smoldering wreck of twisted metal and burned-out vehicles at the
factory. Authorities said there were no survivors from the site of the
blast. Items of interest for the investigation were found more than a
half-mile away, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said.
The company, which employs about 150 people, has a sprawling complex in
rural central Tennessee with eight specialized production buildings and
a lab. It straddles the Hickman and Humphreys county line in
unincorporated Bucksnort, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of
Nashville.
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A wreath is seen at the entrance to Accurate Energetic Systems
Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, after an explosion killed 16 people on Oct.
10, in McEwen, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The company, headquartered in nearby McEwen, has customers in the
aerospace, defense, demolition and mining industries.
It has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the U.S.
Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives,
according to public records. The products range from bulk explosives to
landmines and small breaching charges, including C-4.
In a statement Friday, Accurate Energetic Systems CEO Wendell Stinson
said the company is “continuing to support investigators and is under
obligation to preserve the site for a to-be-determined period of time” —
anticipating it may be "many months" — in case more on-site review is
needed.
The company started a fund with a local community foundation to help
solicit donations for affected families.
Lawsuit filed over the explosion
The explosion killed people ages 21 to 60. The Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation has positively identified 14 of the 16 victims using rapid
DNA testing.
Given the state of the scene, TBI Director David Rausch said the
expectation had been they would be able to identify 40% to 50% of the
victims. Still, he said it has fallen short so far of their hopes to
identify every victim. Authorities have named all 16 victims.
Officials are still conducting tests to try to identify the final two
victims, Davis said. The sheriff said he could “hear it in their voice”
when he spoke with their families.
“There’s not enough words in the dictionary that we could use to
describe those feelings or emotions," Davis said.
Last week, a lawsuit was filed in state court on behalf of the
9-year-old daughter of Jeremy Moore. The father was killed in the blast.
The lawsuit was filed against AAC Investments LLC, which is a company
closely tied to Accurate Energetic Systems. The lawsuit claims AAC was
the owner, operator and manager of the factory and that the explosion
happened because AAC did not maintain a “reasonably safe factory” for
the explosives work.
Moore, 37, cherished spending time with and supporting his daughter at
cheerleading, softball or any adventure she wanted to do, according to
his obituary.
Lee Coleman, an attorney for Moore's family, said the complaint could be
amended once further details become available, and that defendants could
be added.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
___
Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press staff
writer Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
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